


Hidden Jewels

by SugaryMystery



Series: Crossroad Clinic [1]
Category: exophilia - Fandom, exophilia writing - Fandom
Genre: Exophilia, Exophilia Writing, F/M, Lizardfolk, Original work - Freeform, crossroad clinic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23603626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugaryMystery/pseuds/SugaryMystery
Summary: Hello there! If you follow my Tumblr you probably have seen this story before since it was one of my first works, however, instead of deleting it (because this story holds a special place in my heart) I've decided to rewrite it and continue working on it. Eventually, once is finished I'll upload it to my Tumblr, but for now, I hope it's of your liking.Disclaimer: This story features the following themes that could be disturbing for some, however not all of the following appear in this chapter: Amputhed limbs; PTS; Home Abuse; Abusive Partners; Rage and Violence Issues; Interspecies Romance; Panic and Anxiety Attacks; Ghost Pain; Medical Procedures; Mentions of Violence; Kissing;  and Vague Descriptions of Sex.
Relationships: Lizardfolk x Human, monster x human - Relationship
Series: Crossroad Clinic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699009
Kudos: 5





	Hidden Jewels

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! If you follow my Tumblr you probably have seen this story before since it was one of my first works, however, instead of deleting it (because this story holds a special place in my heart) I've decided to rewrite it and continue working on it. Eventually, once is finished I'll upload it to my Tumblr, but for now, I hope it's of your liking. 
> 
> Disclaimer: This story features the following themes that could be disturbing for some, however not all of the following appear in this chapter: Amputhed limbs; PTS; Home Abuse; Abusive Partners; Rage and Violence Issues; Interspecies Romance; Panic and Anxiety Attacks; Ghost Pain; Medical Procedures; Mentions of Violence; Kissing; and Vague Descriptions of Sex.

Have you ever experience that feeling of having everything you could ever want; success, fame, wealth, companionship, and happiness, all in the palm of your hand? But then, after a slow blink, after just half a second, everything changes for the worse and you lose everything, feeling empty and lost without knowing what to do next.

Manny grunted, rubbing his face with both hands trying to take the sleep away from him. How many times has he fallen asleep on the same couch? Luckily enough he had remembered to clean the living room a few days ago, otherwise, he would have wake up on top of empty pizza boxes and half-filled empty cans of energy drinks.

He sat up and stretched, his back making a ‘pop’ sound as he did. He grunted in pain, maybe he lifted too much weight yesterday, he tends to work out more when there’s nobody in the gym to work with, still, he needs to be present just in case someone shows up. Just like today, probably there’ll be nobody this early on a Friday but he needs to check-in in order to receive his paycheck. He went to the bathroom and washed his face, he took a moment to his own reflection in it; he looked the same as a few years ago but there's something on him that makes him look like nothing but a stranger, almost as if he were a shadow of himself. His eyes have grown tired, the glint he once saw in them was slowly fading like the flame of a candle during a storm, his body now a monument of all the memories he has managed to gather, all the regrets too.

Manny was once a champion in the ring. A beast, unstoppable and mighty, and the cameras only looked at his glorious form to capture the moment of glory. He remembered the salty flavor of the sweat in his mouth, the adrenaline flowing through his veins when his heart started beating faster, and the fire in his gaze when he looked at his opponent with anticipation. The crowd was screaming from the bottom of their lungs his name even before he got up in the ring, all of them pushing the person in front of them in order to catch a glimpse of him. He was known for confronting the most powerful of the fighters, even when he was going to bleed to death he refused to throw the towel. That’s how he earned the name of The Red Champion, and his name was put in the hall of fame in the history of boxing.

But all things must come to an end, and the once outstanding legend in the world of the sport was known as just as Manny, the gym instructor.

It’s been five years since he retired; it was a big surprise for everyone but he didn’t want to go into details to media and neither friends, at least not more than the necessary. He only felt the urge of running as far away as possible from all the cameras trying to catch his expression which had only turned grim and horrified. He needed to disappear for a while.

He would have spent his days binging on delivery pizza and watching old sports games on his wide TV if it wasn’t for his buddy Michael, one of the few who stayed with him even after his fame and fortune was gone. His one and only friend to this day.

After Manny retired he gave him a call telling him there was a position available in the clinic. He thought they would like to hire him as a security guard because of his threatening appearance; for being a dragonfolk he was almost the size of a Minotaur, but to his surprise, they wanted him to be an instructor in the gym area of the clinic. The clinic counted with a gym that the patients and staff could use freely and even included an indoor pool open for the public on Saturdays. The work consisted on supervise everyone’s training, give some of them a hand (or claw in his case) when they needed it, and guide around the newbies. It sounded like a great deal, so he took it without thinking much about it.

Two years have passed since he took the job and the clinic has become his second home. In fact, he preferred to be in the gym than in his own house. Something inside it screamed to everyone who enters that he was single; almost no decorations or photos on the walls, mostly take-out food on the kitchen, and his bed was never made. And besides, the clinic staff had no problem with him staying until late, they were even happier to know that he enjoyed it that much.

Life was pretty sweet for him and things finally started to work, but once in a while he couldn’t help but remember with bitterness his pass. He often dreams of his time on the ring, the feeling of having the world in his claws, but when he wakes up, he feels… empty. He likes his life how it is but nothing changes the fact that he’s not _The Red Champion_ anymore. That feeling of having a hole in his heart and the idea of won’t be able to satisfy that hunger terrifies him.

Tired of feeling sorry for himself he changed his clothes and drove all the way to the clinic. When he arrived he was greeted by the kind half-orc girl behind the desk, he still didn’t know her name since she was hired a few months ago to work only on weekends but he greets her as well. As he thought, the gym was empty and the only noise that came was from the upper floors of the facility, a couple of hurried nurses would come here and there through the halls but no patients appeared, still, he sat on the nearby bench and waited a good fifteen minutes before deciding to work out to kill time. The day went on like that, from working on the machines, casually checking the halls and making sure the machines were working well, and resting on the bench near the lockers room.

There was a clock on the right wall to which he would look anxiously, waiting for minutes to pass by. Although he was rather bored during the day he would felt at incredible ease, maybe it was the clean air flowing or the smell of the aromatic flowers placed all around the clinic, whatever it was he felt good. He felt safe from his own thoughts, and even in times, he would remember he wouldn’t feel that hole in his heart.

The morning turned into evening, and the pale blue sky would be tainted in warm colors announcing the close end of the day. At some point had taken a nap on the bench beside the vending machine, slowly drifting to sleep the more he let himself drown in his own thoughts. When he woke up he looked at the clock on the wall. 08:00 PM. He stood up, pulled out some coins from his pocket and bought a soda can, some sugar and caffeine should keep him awake for a couple more hours until his shift ended. He took a walk by the different rooms on the F1 and notice one room had the lights still on. It was weird, from time to time he would see a shadow pass over but he thought it was someone from the cleaning staff or the guard from the night shift. Most of the walls in the clinic had big glass windows so the doctors and staff can monitor better their patients.

He peeked inside, mainly out of curiosity even but also because he didn’t have anything better to look. He saw a girl on a yoga mattress, her legs were crossed and she was stretching her arms up and in front of her; her short fluffy hair looked so soft and it hanged loose to her shoulders, her face and nose was round with chubby rosy cheeks and long eyelashes, her skin looked pale but there was a redness to it maybe because she was exercising? She didn’t seem older than twenty years old, even younger just for her appearance.

He was no spring chicken, after all, he was already near his sixty although he didn’t show it, thanks to the dragonfolk blood in him he'll have a longer lifespan than most lizarfolks. He looked at least thirty at most, but he couldn’t help but feel a little wrong by staring at her. Sure, he could admit that she was cute like any other girl, but that wasn’t why he couldn’t look away. What really made him unable to look away was her peculiar arms; they were a strange crystal color, able to reflect the light from the sealing in a rainbow pattern, and from her forearms what seemed to be vines or veins of the same material escalate to the pale skin in her upper arms.

The way she was moving make her look like a crystal ballerina or a porcelain doll in this little music boxes, he couldn’t look away, astonished by the way the light reflected in the strange material. But it didn’t take long for her to notice the big guy staring at her with eyes like plates and a soda can in one hand, she gasped and visibly jumped at the sudden realization of being watched. He snapped out of it, running away and hiding in a corner, the scales in his face burning with embarrassment as he decided to walk back to the bathroom to wash his face. 

* * *

Today he will be monitoring a young boy name Sozu, a 17 years old troll brat who dislocated his arm while he was playing basketball. He never listens to any one of the staff and the doctor’s advice, so he used to exercise more than he should, or forgetting to take his medication, but Manny was one of the few who could manage him. Sozu had great respect for him, he often looks forward to training with him although he was still a brat and he had to scold him often, but listen anyway. Today it was mostly strength training, something to be careful considering Sozu’s arm but thanks to him he has been following the treatment correctly and he’s almost fully recovered. They were taking a break when Sozu started some conversation.

‘’I have to thank you Mr. Instructor’’ Sozu gave Manny a smirk. He likes to tease him calling him like that because he knows it makes him sound old. ‘’If it weren’t for you I would end up losing my arm’’

‘’It could have happened, if you weren’t a brat maybe you wouldn’t spend so much time here. And if you become even brattier you will lose your arm for sure, just telling’’

‘’I would mind that very much you know, I can’t assure you I won’t lose an arm or leg in the future when I start playing again, but I wouldn’t like to end up in one of the groups of rehabilitation’’ he grimaced.

Manny knew what Sozu was talking about. The Clinic managed a lot of areas, the ones people knew more about were those who dealt with general health, but the clinic was actually divided into five areas distributed on each floor. ‘A’ was the area specialized in everything from diet to exercise routines of low impact for the elderly, as well as therapy after minor fractures or wounds. ‘B’ was for mayor lesions and fractures, cryogenic treatments for athletes, treatment for loss of muscle mass, and after surgery therapy. ‘C’ was for a patient with open fractures, damaged tissues, or in need of higher intervention. ‘D’ was for patients with prosthetics or difficulty moving around, including therapies and medication, as well as psychologic help derivate to a nearby clinic. And the last one was ‘E’ for Experimental, an area in which most of the private investigator of the clinic will look for new implements, machines, medicine, and therapies for the patients. But no patients have been part of the last group yet, mainly because no doctor has found a patient willing to accept their odd experiments.

‘‘I mean-‘’ Sozu took a bite of his sandwich. ‘’I wouldn’t like to the lucky guy who ended up under Dr. Garcia’s care’’

‘’Who?’’ he asked curiously. He had heard the name before but couldn’t remember exactly when maybe from a whisper in the halls or overhearing someone else’s conversation.

‘’Haven’t you talk to Michael yet? Dr. Garcia is the first to find someone for the E group. He’s a nice guy but freaks people out when he talks about his Investigation’’

‘’I had no idea’’. It wasn’t surprising that he wouldn’t know, he rarely talks to any of the other doctors who work on the upper floors, all he knows are sudden whispers from the cafeteria or the hallways. ‘’Who’s the lucky?’’ He swallowed his soda and crushed the can with his claw.

‘’Don’t know. I figure you would know because no one has seen anybody, not even with the doctor around but that must be because he usually works on weekends or that’s what I’ve heard’’

‘’What’s this guy Investigation anyways? If he’s the first I figured everybody would want to know at this point’’

‘’Man, I don’t want to get any closer to him! No offense, but the fact that he just got out of college can be seen in his enthusiasm. Once he sees you in the hallways and starts talking he doesn’t stop. He just- DOESN’T. STOP’’

Manny laughs, he remembered seeing a guy like that in the halls last week. He had the head-doctor of surgery cornered with his words. Manny felt lucky that day for not being that poor guy.

For some reason, he remembered the girls from last night and a thought crossed his head. What if she was part of one of the rehab group? Her arms look… odd to say the least, could they be prosthetics? He considers the idea of asking Sozu about it but the break was over and he was too eager to go back training. The rest of the evening Manny keep reminding Sozu to take it easy, and when the brat wouldn’t listen he pulled one of his long ears. As his Instructor, he was allowed to do so now and then if it meant him not getting hurt.

At 5 PM his shift ended, and Sozu’s was long gone, but he enjoys staying late at the gym because nobody was there to look at him working out. He was a little self-aware at his age, his body was full of scars and even bite marks from his old fights, he once shows them with pride at the ring but now people will look at him with fear or pain in their eyes. He wasn’t really in shape either, all those weekends eating delivery pizza could be seen on his belly, he wasn’t fat but he wasn’t fit anymore, an unpleasant reminder that he wasn’t _The Red Champion_ anymore.

Manny workout for a while until the sky turns from bright orange to a dark blue, so he went to the bathrooms and took a quick shower. He took a look at one of the mirrors now cover in steam, he cleaned it with his hand and put his attention to the scar that crossed his face. It made him look intimidating, more than he already was. The scales in his face were rough around the scar, and the cut was deep enough to be noticed at the touch. He dressed up quickly but didn’t bother on putting his shirt again, it was one of the privileges of staying late and the only other one staying was Henry, the janitor of the night shift in the clinic. He’s old as time, but everybody loves him for allowing people to stay up late in the cafeteria or for helping find stuff they have lost, he was the best. He put his shirt around his neck like a towel and went to the cafeteria to get the leftover sandwiches in the fridge.

The cafeteria was still open, but he figured that Henry must have left it open for him. He opened the door of the fridge and grabbed as many sandwiches his arms and mouth could carry. As he closed the door he finds out he wasn’t the only one in the cafeteria, and in front of him in a nearby table was the same girl he saw the other day eating a fruit salad and staring at him with surprising eyes and her mouth open.

Both of them kept staring at each other and the room was filled with an awkward silence. Her face then turned red and looked away from him. They snap out of realization; he was in front of a girl with his bare chest, holding a huge pile of cheap sandwiches in his arm and a few in his mouth. In a desperate try to grab his shirt, he dropped most of the sandwiches to the floor and end up tripping with one of them, falling in his back. The only thing on his mind was that he was an idiot, he wasn’t sure why but he definitely looked like one. He tried to stand up and then he heard a familiar giggle. The girl was now in front of him, giving him a hand so he could stand up.

‘’Sorry for laughing, but I’m glad the awkward silence is over’’

He grabbed her hand and noticed it felt like glass but wasn’t cold at all, but warm. When he finally got into his feet he immediately grabbed his shirt and put it on while she kneeled down to grab some sandwiches from the floor. He did the same and notice she was wearing pants to the knees, allowing him to see that her legs were made of the same material of her arms. She got up and put the sandwiches in the same table she was eating her salad, without words he followed her and took a sit on the chair in front of her.

‘’Sorry for all of this… and for what happened the other night. I didn’t mean to stare at you, I just find it weird that someone would still be here at this hour’’ He felt ashamed but he was also worried about rumors to be spreading around about him behaving in a non-professional way. It was better to apologize before word came to his superiors.

‘’Don’t worry about it. It startled me a little but couldn’t help but find it funny too, although I haven’t seen you before’’ she asked, fork still on her right hand.

‘’Well, I don’t talk much to others and I mostly work in the mornings and maybe noon, only during weekends I stay until late hours. I like it when the building is almost empty, as weird as it sounds’’

‘’Me too!’’ she said with her mouth full which she quickly covered with her mouth in embarrassment. ‘’Sorry’’

He shook his head, chuckling a little. He was glad he could sit for once with someone else besides Mike and have a nice talk about nothing much. Sure, he was ten times more comfortable with him, and he couldn’t help but feel a little tense in the presence of a young girl, one that he found pretty and rather charming in its own way, yet the atmosphere was lively and warm somehow.

‘’Can I ask if you’re a doctor, or maybe a patient too?’’

‘’None. I work as an Instructor in the gym. Basically, I watch the kids and make sure they don’t hurt themselves, watch out the machines, and sometimes help in the rehabilitation programs’’ Manny open one of the sandwiches and swallow it whole. He thought saying _‘the kids’_ made him sound older than he truly was, but she didn’t mention anything and just continued munching on the fruit with a content look on her face.

‘’I usually come here during the weekdays, but a coworker of mine had to go on a doctor’s appointment and asked me to cover her, so I could only come these days. It’s weird that we just now acknowledge each other’s presence’’

‘’Guess that’s how life works, but now that you mentioned it is kind of hilarious’’ he swallowed another sandwich. ‘’So, why do you come here so late?’’

She seemed a little surprised for the question, her round and soft cheeks blushing a little. ‘’As you know, it’s empty at this hour and not even the staff is around, I like having my space when I do my stretches, and besides’’ She points to her other arm, the crystal-like material changing colors like the drops of rain when the sun rays go through them. ‘’I know these are weird to look at for others. I know it shouldn’t bother me but it distracts me a lot’’

Manny felt guilty for staring at her at that time. He couldn’t deny he felt curious about them but didn’t want to be rude, yet again, even though he didn’t mean it that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt her. He must have made that apparent for her because she shook her head laugh.

‘Please don’t worry about it! I can’t go around and ask people not to stare, that would be rude from me too. Besides, I think it’s really sweet of you to apologize, but please don’t worry much about it’’ she put her fork down and looked to the side. ‘’People are usually more anxious when they talk or even look at me, whenever I like it or not this makes some sort of wall when I try to connect with people’’ So, I prefer my space as much as I can’’ she turned to look at him in the eyes. ‘’Although it’s nice to have someone to talk to from now and then’’ she smiled brightly at him, her eyes were glimmering a little.

He returned the smile and continued eating, now without the awkward feeling in his gut and the worry on his head, focusing on enjoying the now quiet moment. As the two of them continued eating he noticed she was putting the strawberries aside from her plate.

‘’You don’t like strawberries?’’ his tone was almost surprised. People had different tastes, but he had yet to meet someone who didn’t like strawberries.

‘’Uhm? Oh! No, it’s not that. I like them but every time I want to enjoy them they end up being sour or with no flavor at all. I like the sweet ones but I always get the other ones, just my luck I guess’’ she looked at him and took one with her fork, offering the red fruit to him. ‘’Would you like to eat them, I don’t like to throw away food’’

He was a little surprised with the offer but nodded. He leaned closer and took the strawberry in his mouth, exposing most of his sharps fangs to her. She didn’t flinch though, she looked at him amazed like he was some sort of art piece on a museum, maybe she was curious? The two of them stopped, so did the time, he had completely captured the end of the fork in his mouth and he wasn’t going to let go of it. She continued looking, now to the scales on his skin and the deep scar on his face, he put attention to her reaction. He was expecting fear, sadness, maybe a look of pain reflected on her, but no, there was nothing of that. She was looking at him with big, dark brown eyes in which he could see his own reflection.

The moment ended when she caught up with the fact that she was staring at her with her mouth open, she pulled the fork away and looked down at her plate, her cheek even redder than before. He looked away as well, not wanting to make the scene more awkward but when they look at each other once again they couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She put the strawberries aside on another plate and gave it to him.

‘’I guess now we’re both guilty of staring’’ she said.

‘’It seems like it, I’m just glad the awkwardness is over… uhm…?’’

‘’Ellie’’ she interrupts him. ‘’My name is Ellie, nice to meet you’’ she gave him her hand and he took it, gently shaking it.

‘’Manny. A pleasure’’

They were both interrupted by Henry coughing to call their attention, telling them that he really needed to turn off the lights and close the place. The two of them look at the clock on the wall. 10 PM. Well, fuck! How long did they spend laughing about each other? They threw the packages of their food in the trash and went to grab their stuff from the lockers, after that they walked together to the parking lot and saying their goodbyes.

As Manny got inside his car he noticed she was walking away in direction of the bus station, it seemed she didn’t own a car and nobody was going to pick her up, so maybe she was going to take the bus or call a taxi. However, it was already dark, the streetlights could only illuminate as much as they could, who knows if there could be a random creep waiting for any lost lady to pass beside them just to- well, he didn’t want to think on that possibility. He rolled down the window from his car and called for her.

‘’Hey, are you going to take the bus?’’. She nodded. ‘’It’s too dark, it might be dangerous. I can give you a ride if you want’’

She looked at him whit a suspicious look for a moment, unsureness clear in her eyes. Of course, they just knew who the other was but that didn’t mean she trusted him, it was logic that she’d be a little doubtful about his invitation. But then she just took her phone, typed something in it, and silently got into the car.

‘’You’re not going to kidnap me are you?’’ she said in a playful tone as she put the seatbelt on.

‘’I can give you my plaque number if you want to’’ he gave her a smirk.

‘’Oh, I already saw it. I was just texting a friend just in case, so I would highly appreciate it if you didn’t take me somewhere strange’’ she laughed. ‘’But thank you. I actually feel safer inside a car than walking alone in the dark’’

She gave him her address and he put it on his GPS, turns out she lived rather far from the clinic, it was only 15-20 minutes if you took the highway but taking the bus or subway it would have taken her almost two hours. The ride was a quiet one, he would steal glances from now and then, but instead of looking at her arms or legs, he was paying more attention to the expressions of her face. She looked tired and tried not to close her eyes in an effort to not fall asleep. He thought of putting some music on the radio but thought better of it since music can be even more relaxing for some, instead of that he asked if she wanted to pull down the window to feel the air which she did.

Once they arrived he parked in front of an apartment building, she pulled out her seat belt and grabbed her bag.

‘’Here we are! Safe and totally not kidnaped’’ Manny joked.

‘’Thanks a lot for bringing me home. I didn’t think it was this late already’’

‘’No worries, just an old man doing his job by taking care of the kids’’

‘’But I’m no kid!’’ she whined. ‘’How old you think I am?’’

‘’Well…’’ he thought about it and turned to look at her face; round nose, chubby cheeks, rosy lips, soft-looking skin like a baby. Not to mention she had this, childish air around her, even her voice was sweet and tender. ‘’I would say you’re… nineteen?’’

‘’Far from the truth! I’m actually twenty-five!’’ she winks an eye to him.

‘’No fucking way!’’ he lifted his arms in disbelief. ‘’You look so young, now I feel even more like an old fossil on a museum! I just need a stick on my ass to get the look done’’ he put his hands on his face in fake tragedy. She laughed, covering her mouth not to make much noise.

‘’Don’t say things like that. Gods, my tummy hurts. But I don’t know why you worry so much about it, you don’t look an old lizard to me’’

‘’No?’’ he turned, leaning just enough so he was mere centimeters again from her face. ‘’Then how do I look to you? Oh Guardian of the Fount of Youth’’

‘’Oh… Well’’ she looked down, then up, then down again, she wasn’t sure where to look at because he was blocking her from looking elsewhere. She looked at him and brought her hands to her chest. ‘’You look… well, you’re like fire…’’

He wasn’t expecting that answer although he had heard similar things before. He smirked, old memories flowing through his head, a familiar feeling of smugness came to his mind. ‘’So, do you think I’m hot enough to go on a date with?’’ he stopped right there, his mind just catching with his words. What was he thinking? Was he hitting on her? What was he expecting from her to say anything at all? What about not wanting rumors to be spreading in the clinic?! He was acting in a way that could be read as being inappropriate and unprofessional. Slowly he returned to his seat. ‘’Sorry… I didn’t mean to-‘’

‘’That would be nice, yes…’’ she said in a hushed voice. Hands still clutched on her chest.

Manny went still, his mind freezing while trying to process those last words. He was not prepared for that. He had heard compliments before, things like ‘you’re ok’ or ‘you look cute’ from some coworkers on the gym and even Mike, but he didn’t imagine this young lady will find him attractive enough to consider him dating material. He felt embarrassed for making go through an embarrassing moment but, deep inside, he honestly felt… happy. Proud even. He was unable to say anything and the silence was clearly making her feel more and more anxious, so she quickly grabbed her stuff and opened the door.

‘’Thanks again for the ride home… well, goodbye!’’ she said rushing out of the car and running inside the building without looking back.

Many had to stay in the parking lot for a while, his mind still trying to catching up with what has just happened. ‘’This wasn’t right’’ he thought. ‘’She’s a patient and I’m part of the staff. I’m sixty and she’s still in her young twenties. She’s human, I believe so, and I’m a mix breed lizardfolk’’ He continued pulling out reasons why he shouldn’t let this situation get over his head, but he kept getting hold of her words, he wanted to taste the moment as much as he could even for his own enjoyment.

When he finally had calm himself down he started to drive back home. Along the way he was invaded by memories from his past, remembering what was to live at the top of the fame once again. Women and men of all kinds and races were trying to get his attention, more than half of them were hoping to get in his bed too, he had a few partners along the way but they always end up wanting him because of his money, so needless to say there was nothing but painful relationships overall. So he gave up and focused only on being the best, and he succeeded. But he has always yearned for a loving, kind, and tender touch. He was still a person, after all, and loneliness is such a heavy feeling to carry on one’s back.

At his house, he threw himself onto his bed. His muscles were tired for all the exercise, his mind was foggy and his heart was beating at one hundred and eighty beats per minute. He turned off the lights, took off his sweaty clothes, and closes his eyes waiting for sleep to come. He was too tired to keep thinking so he left his tomorrow chores to his tomorrow self.

* * *

That morning the alarm didn’t wake her up. Actually, she didn’t sleep at all. Her heartbeat was beating at an unusual pace and had to lay in the bed for an hour before doing anything else. She thought it could be a side effect of the new medication and didn’t think much about it. When she finally got up to shut the damn alarm she noticed she was still wearing her work out clothes, not the best option if you don’t want to smell bad the other day but there was nothing that a quick shower could fix.

Today, like most Sundays, she had no classes so she was going to spend some time cleaning her apartment. Usually, she was a very tidy person, but since she had nothing better to do she preferred to keep her mind and body busy. As she showered the spontaneous memory of last night pop up into her head and her heart started to beat fast again.

The past three years her only focus was to get her life together; going to the doctor, studying, working, and repeat. An easy routine that left her with little free time, but she couldn’t be happier to be able to get control of her life for once. She has always feel grateful for being able to work and study close to her home, even though the clinic is a little too far for her the treatment it’s worth the wait, and despite a few falls during exam times she was able to get good grades. All of this thanks to her efforts, so going out on dates wasn’t really a priority at the moment. Being so close to someone was a new experience for her, she was shy and anxious especially around boys, but she felt lucky Manny was actually a kind gentleman. Sure, she was a little startled when she first saw him staring at her and she felt a little embarrassed like usual, but he was braver than her and apologized despite not being the big deal. He was big, and his looks could have been intimating to anyone, but she couldn’t help but feel safe and at ease around him. His scales were a beautiful red of the color of thousand rubies, and his eyes seemed to have a living fire in them. Even in the dim light, they seemed to be burning with fierce.

 _‘’So, do you think I’m hot enough to go on a date with?_ ’’ His words suddenly echoed in her head, her cheeks instantly blushing and her heart beating fast once again, not painfully but making enough noise to feel it on her ears.

‘’Wait!’’ she told to herself, as she applied shampoo to her hair. ‘’Was he… hitting on me?! And I said yes?! I mean why would he ask such a question if not to flirt with someone?’’ her mind was spinning, maybe the water was too hot so he turned off for a second. Did he really mean it or was he just teasing her? He didn’t look like the one who would do something like that, in fact, he looked just as much of an introvert as her. ‘’So, does that mean-’’ she interrupted herself, her hand gently ghosting over her thigh touching the line where her skin and the crystal material connected.

‘’No… that would never happen’’ she finished her shower, getting ready for another day.


End file.
